Cellphone towers don't have to mimic Lego trees

Vintage late-1990s cellphone towers in Sunland. Surely, 15 years later, we can do better than this?

Vintage late-1990s cellphone towers in Sunland. Surely, 15 years later, we can do better than this? (Los Angeles Times)

Karin Klein

Why are cellphone towers so utterly ugly? That wasn’t the most important issue that came up during a Times editorial board meeting this week with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, but it’s surely a question that most of us have pondered.

Our tiny hand-helds have been designed to the max; more aesthetic effort has gone into the protective cases than into the fake pine and palm trees that rise in unlikely places throughout the landscape.

Garcetti pointed to a new cell tower in Glassell Park, which also serves as a Streamline Moderne-style community marker, as an example of a far more pleasing way to construct a tower.

According to the Eastsider LA, Verizon originally wanted to construct one of those ubiquitous trees, but the neighborhood rebelled. The ensuing discussions led to the more upscale design, with the new tower unveiled last month.

So obviously, there are more ways to deliver cell service than through giant Lego-style trees.

Have you seen any other good-looking cell towers around town or in your travels? What are other ways we could design cell towers so that they become adornments to the landscape as well as a functional way to keep us connected at every possible moment?